A petition launched in Kingston has collected more than 3,300 signatures as of Tuesday.
The petition, presented by Queen’s University sophomore Niki Ehsan and sponsored by Kingston and the Islands MP Mark Gerretsen, urges the Canadian government to take action against Iran as protests and state-sanctioned violence continue to rock the country. We call on the Islamic Republic to take stronger action.
The petition asks the federal government to investigate reported stalking threats against Iranian-Canadians, revoke the visas of Iranian officials in Canada, and call on allies to halt all negotiations with Iran. It calls on Iran to take five steps to act “urgently and sternly”, including
Above all, Ethan says the most important thing is to designate the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organization under the Penal Code.
“The main point we have is to list the IRGC as a terrorist organization,” Ethan said.
“By listing the IRGC as a terrorist organization, it delegitimizes the regime. The goal is to get the Canadian government to take real, meaningful action, not just denounce this atrocity.”
The petition opened for signatures on January 17 and, as of Tuesday night, had collected 3,345b signatures across all states in the country.
Ethan said all Iranians in Iran or living abroad have experienced some form of terror in the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Protests erupted in September after 22-year-old Martha Amini died in custody. The woman was arrested by Iran’s moral police for being “immodestly dressed” in what protesters described as a lock of her hair.
The country was quickly wiped out by protesting citizens, with several demonstrations taking place in Kingston and other cities around the world.
Ethan said the protests that have continued since September are something that would never happen in Iran and urged her and other Iranians abroad to do what they can.
“Such protests do not break out in Iran,” Ehsan said.
“It faces serious atrocities. Abroad, seeing my brothers and sisters fighting for basic freedoms and basic human rights, I want Iran’s voice to be heard. I knew I had to do what I had to do.”
Petition sponsor Mark Gerretsen says he rarely declines the opportunity to sponsor a petition and that this deals with a very important topic.
He said there is more Canada and its allies can do to help the Iranian people fight, and said he looked forward to submitting a petition to the House of Representatives as soon as it was ready.
“I don’t think we can really be unilateral without taking some sort of coordinated approach with our allies, but I think there is more that can be done,” said Mr. Gelessen.
“When I hear about the atrocities going on in Iran against people who basically have the right to stand up and be heard…I am very happy to have the opportunity to sponsor the petition.”
Ethan said there is still time to wait for the petition to be signed, so she and the Iranian Students Association at Queen’s University will take the time to prepare the next steps.
Despite Geretzen’s sponsorship of the bill, he said there was no guarantee or expectation that he would take it to the House of Commons, stating that the ideal scenario would be to go to the office of Pierre Pollivieres and have the opposition leader file a petition. You said you expected to push.to make changes.
Mr. Ehsan said Mr. Poriviere was adamantly critical of Iran’s actions and had been vocal about designating the IRGC a terrorist organization.
Even if his endorsement of the “Freedom Convoy” and appeal to far-right voters in Canada made him a fairly polarizing figure in politics, she argued that issues must transcend conservatives. No concerns about party lawmakers filing petitions.Partisan debate.
“I hope that Western leaders can come together to help Iran and help those who are losing their lives to senseless atrocities,” Ethan said.
The petition is open for signatures until February 16th.
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